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Best Of The Best 2006: Digital Age

On the surface, the Porsche Design Indicator does not appear to be a piece that would make a connoisseur’s wish list.

It employs the Valjoux 7750, the most demotic chronograph movement, to offer what many consider the very symbol of mass-market timepieces: a digital display. Such elitist prejudices, however, miss the real achievement of the Indicator. Until now, even the most prestigious brands have failed to accomplish high-speed mechanical displays of this kind. Ernst Seyr, the recently departed man­aging director of Eterna, which manufactures Porsche Design watches, allocated most of the firm’s R & D resources to rebuild the movement, adding an additional three spring barrels to drive the rotating display disks. These disks consume so much energy that, even with its pumped-up power source, the Indicator’s chronograph can run for only 10 consecutive hours. The Indicator is a chronograph you can use and read easily, even when engaged in sports that might somehow divert your attention from your watch.